2009-07-30

I feel a bit uneasy today. As usual morning, I sent April and May to babysitter's house before I headed to office.In the car, April suddenly said, "Mummy, I want to tell you one thing.".Mummy said, "Say it.".April continued, "I hope we won't die .".Mummy shocked, "Won't one Darling, don't be silly. If we live healthy, drink plenty water, wash legs and hands more often, we will be healthy and long life. ".Am just thinking of consoling her by saying so.Then mummy puzzled and asked April, "Who are the WE?".April said, "You and me.".Mummy said, "Don't worry, silly girl!".May be April was under pressured, as hubb scolded her for her bad handwriting in her homework just right before the bedtime. Before I turned off the light, she also gave me a teddy bear hug. She must be very upset for getting scolded by the father.

2009-07-29

When the clock was almost hit bedtime, April used a torch light to watch my mouth and my noses.So I asked her, "Do you want to be a doctor in future?".She grinned and said, "In future, I want to work like you.".I was surprised and wondered that she wants to work like me as a mother or in my job.Then, I asked her again, "Do you know what is mummy's job?".She said, "Yes, you work with computer one. ".I was shocked and asked, "You sure? Do you know how to work with computer?".She replied, "I have my computer wert!".She referred to her mini toy laptop that I blogged in Fun Time. I felt so funny and just smiled. The best part was her last statement here,"Mummy, so that I can see you at your work place every time and everyday.".Awwwwwwwww! Sooooooooooooo sweet my darling April.

2009-07-27

I am a person who have very strong determination in losing weight. Everyone who knows me also commented that I am quite strict in my diet regime. However, I am fully defeated by the King of fruits. My diet plan was sure failed when my eyes caught the scene of durian. So far, I have spent about RM150 in this durian season. These expenses on durian was only consumed by my hubb and me only. Last week, I actually announced to the whole office that I wanted to stop buying durian already. But, I still went and bought another last one. I hope it is really the last one. This last one cost RM25.

It is worth the money. Its flesh is so stick. The seeds are rather small. After eating for a couple of them, I was so full. I packed them into a container and stored them in the refrigerator.

I love to eat fruits which are chill. There is no exception for the King of fruits too. Now, I look at this picture, I almost can smell it, and I have to swollow my saliva down the throat.

2009-07-25

Get my hair trimmed again last week. My hubb always likes to push me for a hair cut. Since my partner likes me in my short hairstyle, and I myself also find short hair is easier to maintain, so I just cut and cut it shorter everytime.

Besides, I am still working on losing 1 more kg in weight, although a lot of people said that I already slim down a lot. Indeed, I am a bit maniac now in my weight loss program.

2009-07-23

Today (23 July) is Su In's Birthday. I want to wish Su In a very Happy Birthday, and may all your dreams come true. She was my ex-colleague in AgilentPenang. Su In, Louissa and me were very close to each other that time, as we reported to the same boss, as a result we have the same enemy. LOL! Whenever we were together, we had a lot of laughter. We shared the joy, the fun, the ups and downs of our life. Su In is a very warm and caring friend. She is humble and thoughtful to almost everyone. She is a cincai person, she seldom keeps hate and anger. She is easily forgetting friends' mistakes and faults. She has good temper and patience. I am glad that I know her.At Wen Ying's wedding, she was holding the 7 months old April.

We went to Penang to catch up with her and her family. I was at my 9th month second pregnancy.

We met again to celebrate April's 4 years old Birthday at her new condo. The pic was taken at Queen Bay Mall after watching the Disney On Ice show at PISA together.

Su In, I sincerely want to thank you for being my friend, and being so helpful and thoughtful to my family, especially when April was hospitalized at GMC due to pneumonia. Thank you for everything. Though we are far apart, you are always in my heart. Boo Hoo! I copy MJ's lyric again. Go guess what song?

My working life isn't that bad actually, as I have very good colleagues here. Like I mentioned in the Nice breakfast entry, where we got free breakfast from Yvonne on Monday morning. On Tuesday, Lorita prepared us the salad at lunch time. Salad is my all time favourite, as it is healthy and delicious. So, these are actually the best moment for me during working time.Working life is tiring. Working mother is stressful, when we need to deal with the heavy work load and also some unpleasant things and people at work. We are always racing with the clock. Our schedule is always fully packed. So, it is very lucky, if we can have thoughtful and good colleagues.

The food is nice, and I feel so sweet.

Yvonne asked me when is my turn to treat them back. Give me some time, I'll arrange it. My next plan is making OndeOnde.

2009-07-22

Finally, I asked my MIL about the melon that I mentioned in my earlier blog. My MIL told me that it called 鱼翅瓜. When I googled it, and I found this.

The spaghetti squash (Cucurbita pepo) (also called vegetable spaghetti, noodle squash, spaghetti marrow (in the UK) , squaghetti or fish fin melon (鱼翅瓜) in Chinese) is an oblong seed-bearing variety of winter squash. The fruit can range either from ivory to yellow or orange in color or green with white streaks. Its center contains many large squash seeds. Its flesh is bright yellow, and orange or white for the latter variety. When raw, the flesh is solid and similar to other raw squash; when cooked, the flesh falls away from the fruit in ribbons or strands like spaghetti or shark's fin (when cooked in a soup form). Spaghetti squash can be baked, boiled or steamed, and served with sauce as pasta, or used as a vegetable base for macaroni and cheese. Spaghetti squash contains many nutrients including folic acid, potassium, vitamin A, and beta carotene. It is also a food low in calories, averaging 75 calories in 8 cooked ounces. It is a cultivar originating in China.

2009-07-21

This weekend, we have this soup for my family. It was the watercress and melon soup. However, I forgot the name of the melon. It wasn't winter melon. I bought the melon as the vegetable seller told me that it was not as cold as winter melon, and it was good for the lung. Anyway, the appearance of the melon and its flesh were exactly the same as winter melon. If you know the name of the melon, please do let me know. I tried to google it, but failed. Ingredients:1. Watercress2. Melon3. Red dates4. Salt5. Pork

This combination was really nice. The soup was so sweet. My children had very big bowl of rice this weekend.

Other dishes were carrot, bacon and sausage omelette

and fried cabbage with dried shrimp.

Although the above home cooked meal was very common dishes only, it was very special to us. As, they were all tasted very nice, yummy and a bit different from usual. Actually, I'm not praising my own cooking skill here, they were really delicious. Why?

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They were cooked by the only man in my house. The King of .........................................................................................the house.

2009-07-20

I reached my work place and saw this on my table. Awwww! Thank you, Yvonne for waking up so early to make us a breakfast/lunch box. It is the mushroom spaghetti. This healthy and yummy breakfast made my Monday morning full of energy.

2009-07-17

I have been continuously a few evening asking my hubb to buy me some durian, if we happened to pass by the durian stalls at the roadside.

One evening, we saw some durian selling at the roadside while we were driving pass the road.I said: "Ah! Stop, I want to buy durian.".April said: "Hai yo, this mommy always wants to buy durian one.".May said: "Ya la, this mommy always wants to buy durian only.".I said: "What this mommy that mommy ah?".Both of them just grinned.

2009-07-16

Monday, I found a Skynet delivery notice in my letter box, it stated that I have a parcel with them. While I was still wondering what is the parcel that I will get, I called Skynet to re-arrange for the delivery to my company instead.

Finally, I got my parcel in this morning. The sender was DanoneDumex. After thinking for a while, I knew it must be the mother's day story contest that I took part in May. OMG! I won it. How come I didn't get any notification up front? I unwrapped the parcel quickly. It is the Busy Bouncin' Zoo of Playskool. I found a letter of notification inside the parcel as well. Yes, it confirmed that it was this summary entry that made me a winner in the contest, Yeah! In fact, I seldom win anything in any contest in my life. So, I am really overwhelm this time. I still haven't decided who to give to yet.After calming down from the excitement, I started to check their website and I found that my name and article were pubished in the website below.Everyone love surprise. Thanks http://www.dumex.com.my/ for the surprise. You make my day.

I bought this sailor top from Anakku brand. It was only RM20 after 50%. I love seeing May wearing this top. She looked cute in it after paired with a legging.

When I took pics for her, I had to remind her to smile with her mouth closed. Otherwise, she likes to smile this way.

I was so glad that May hasn't shown any sign of refusing to go to school that April had. She likes to go to the I-Math class so much. I hope that she can show the same passion when I send her to her nursery this year end.

Yvonne said that she has become more look-alike her big sister now. Do you agree with her?

2009-07-15

Another outdoor activity that my children enjoy the most was playing badminton with the father. Luckily hubb is a not bad badminton player. April is showing high enthusiasm in this sport as well. May be she has got more of the father's gene. Hubb and April could play in the game for more than an hour. On the hand, May would lose the interest in the game after 15minutes. May be she is still too young to appreciate it.

By the way, hubb was so kind to lend them his precious rackets.

The rackets that both April and May used were the father's belongings. Each costs above RM100.

At night, I told hubb that MJ was trained to sing on stage at 5 years old, Anita Mui was started to sing at 4 years old. That's why, both of them were so successful in their singing career when they had grown up.

So, I asked him to train both my daughters in playing Badminton more often. Who's know one day they will win the gold medal for Malaysia in the future Olympic Games. Then, I will be the mother of Datuk April or Datuk May.Boo Hoo........What to do? I born as a good dreamer.

2009-07-14

I have started to make healthy mix vegetable and fruit juice for my hubb and myself in the weekend mornings as our breakfast.

The vegetable that I commonly used were carrots. I will then mix with either apples, tomatoes, oranges or celery. However, I only made fresh orange or fresh apple juice for them, as May was throwing out the mixed vegetable and fruit juice at one time. So, I don't dare to make them any fancy combination juice at the moment.Wash everything, peel the carrots and cut into sections where needed.

Juice everything. Health Benefits of Carrot JuiceCarrot Juice is said to kill off bacteria and viruses, and has been used successfully in many cancer cures. It removes toxins from the body, improves the health of the liver and the digestive tract.How much carrot juice should I drink?A 8oz glass of fresh raw carrot juice each day is a lovely way to improve and maintain your health.After eating a diet high in raw foods for a while - or straight away if your lucky - your body will tell you if it wants carrot juice or not.Detoxification SymptomsDrinking carrot juice may turn your skin yellow. This can happen when the liver is getting rid of stored toxins. It's not suppose to be harmful but you may not want to go around looking orange! Diluting your carrot juice with water or other juices should help your body flush out the toxins and restore your normal skin tone.If you are drinking lots of carrot juice you may turn orange because of the beta-carotene. This is probably natures way of tell you you are drinking too much! If you are drinking lots of carrot juice because you have cancer please do make sure you are lovingly supported and supervised by a qualified doctor.Carrot NutritionCarrots are nearly 90% water! Carrot juice gives you the benefits of eating raw carrots, without all the chewing and munching. Carrot juice does not contain any fiber, which makes it very easy to digest.Fiber plays an important part in the health of the digestive tract, and helps to remove toxins from the body. Juices are usually consumed as part of a healthy balanced diet that is naturally rich in fiber, from whole fruit and vegetables, nuts, seeds, and grains.

The nutrients in carrot juice include:VitaminsVery high in Vitamin A - this comes in the safe form of beta-carotene which the body is able to convert to Vitamin A as required. Also contains Vitamin K and Vitamin C, plus smaller amounts of the B complex vitamins and Vitamin E.MineralsA good source of minerals carrot juice is high in calcium, magnesium, potassium and phosphorus, and contains small amounts of iron, zinc, manganese, copper, and selenium.Amino AcidsWhile carrot juice is mostly water and carbohydrate it also contains small amounts of all the amino acids (protein).Calories in Carrot JuiceA glass of carrot juice made from the above recipe with 4 large carrots (300g) contains approximately 120 calories.

2009-07-13

Last weekend, I made another 2 soups for my family, as my children must have rice with soup. First one was the black bean soup. The idea was also getting from wokkingmum in her entry.Ingredients:Chicken and pork,100g Black Beans,10 Red Dates, pittedSalt to taste

I actually soaked the black beans for 3 hours before I boiled it with all the ingredients. That's why the soup didn't look that black here. The soup was tasted quite sweet and my two princesses loved it.

Second one was this corn and carrot soup.

Ingredients:Chicken,1 Corn,

2 Carrot,

2 Tomato,

10 Red Dates, pittedSalt to taste

I put all the ingredients in a pot, boiled for 3 hours, then add salt before serve.

2009-07-10

I'm still in the mood of Michael Jackson's memorial. I listen to his song while I drive to work or back from work in the car. I can only fully enjoy his music when I'm alone in the car.

His signature master pieces were Thriller, Billie Jeans, Beat It, Bad and Black or White. Subsequently, Man In The Mirror, Heal The World, You Are Not Alone, We Are The World, Smooth Criminal, I Just Can't Stop Loving You and Remember The Time were also those very successful and popular songs of him at that time.

However, I have my own favourite MJ's songs, which are not in the above list.The Top 10 MJ's song that I like best,

2009-07-08

I was tempted to bake myself a pudding bread after reading this entry of Hayley. I have gotten the plan of doing it few days ago. After I gathered all the required ingredients, I decided to bake it yesterday evening.Ingredients:2 cups milk3 eggs, beaten1/3 cup sugar1/2 teaspoon salt4 slices white bread, without crust1/2 cup raisins, optional

Preparation:Put buttered bread into greased dish. Sprinkle raisins over bread. Mix and pour eggs, sugar, salt, milk, water and raisins over the bread. Sprinkle with 4 tablespoons sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Ta daaa.....it was done in very simple, fast and easy way (infact, it was the lazy way).Of course, my two princesses were the first to try it out. April said it wasn't sweet enough, and May walloped all the .........raisins only.

Today, I brought the remaining of the pudding to the office to let my colleagues taste. We're the world, We share the fat........ Again, MJ's inspiration here.

2009-07-07

One evening after the usual dinner at PIL's house, we headed back to home sweet home. While the car was passing by some houses, April saw something that I actually saw too.

Then April said to me, "Mummy, I saw something in that house that you like very much one.".I said, "What's that?".April said , "Baby-la! You like baby one.".I smiled and said, "How you know mummy likes baby?".April said, "I know la! ".I was speechless. April was so observant. I actually like babies. Whenever I saw my neighbour holding baby, I would sure go near the baby and play with the baby. So, I think that's how April gets to know that I like baby.

During weekend, if the weather was fine, and hubb was around. He would bring the children to the park. The children was playing and running around. We would also join in to have fun with them.

After a few rounds of running and jumping, they both would sweat a lot.

Tossing and catching the ball is a good exercise for the kids to improve their motor skill.

Outdoor exercise shall be encouraged in order to allow the kids to sweat and breath in the fresh air. However, we must remember to wash them thoroughly to get rid of germs and dust after returning home.

2009-07-06

Last Friday, it was the second time for my two girls to go for their Mental Arithmetic and I-Maths class. May was really excited and happy, when I changed them into their T-Shirts. April was happy too, as she could go to class together with her little sister.

Besides, it was already 1 week plus that they slept independently and there was no compliant so far.

2009-07-03

I was being very emotional these few days, as I was watching too much of MJ's music videos, listening too much of MJ's songs and also reading too much of his death. I feel deeply sad over the passing of the King of POP. After more than 25 years, and I am a mother of 2 girls now, I still IDOL him. Last night, I watched "They Don't Care About Us" music video at home, and today I found out that it is one of his most controversial tracks in which he brought in a hip-hop influence. The playful melody is so impactful, not only the adult like it, the children also like it. I was amazed by his dance, his always perfect timing "oooo, awww, hehehe, uuuh, ...." , and also his voice. His performance is fantastic. His accomplishment is tremendous. Seriously, no one can be replicated to make such beautiful performance on stage. There will never be another Michael Jackson. If you didn't like him, the problem wasn't with Michael Jackson, but...

I found this from youtube. This MJ's fan put all the scenes of him in his world tour concerts. When he was singing "You are not alone", they arranged a female fan to go up and dance with him. He held﻿ them tight, held their hair and knelt in front of them. I wish that I was one of the lucky girls. If I could that close to him, and I would just let go everything and kiss him on his lips.

Wacthing this is making me cry. Today news said that a video showed Michael Jackson vigorously practicing a song-and-dance routine days before his death.

Michael Jackson, while thin, is seen dancing with energy. He wants to take back his world. 13 July, the London concert, he is going to show the world his most inspiring performance, why can't just once? The death god should have given him another 2 more weeks to tell the world.

You may ask what is so great of MJ that makes the world grieve on his death.Here the answer from his brother Jermaine Jackson, "The legacy of Michael Jackson is Michael being a wonderful person, a wonderful father, a caring person, a humanitarian, a person who wanted good for everyone, a person who would give his last whatever just to make someone happy. "

"What he's done for the world, not just the financial, but the happiness of people…What kind of price can you put on that? How do you value that? The joy…to make someone happy, to make someone smile through your actions, through what you're doing, there's no price for that."

2009-07-02

SAHM cook almost every day, and usually off cooking on weekend. A working mother like myself is opposite. I only cook on weekend. I need to boil soup. My children can take the rice easier with soup.

I cooked these soups last weekend. Carrot, radish, red dates, dries octopus and pork soup. Then, this is the pork soup with pear. I got the idea from Wokkingmum. She has a very detailed recipe here. I just replaced the chicken with the pork only. Oops, I have addition thing that she didn't put. I put in 2 honey dates to make it sweeter. My MIL said that I can use apple to replace pear too.

Actually, I have set myself a new goal to achieve in the subsequent 6 months of 2009. I want to equip myself with more cooking skills, I want to cook more varieties dishes for my family. LOL!

2009-07-01

I didn't have any IDOL until I saw this man walking up and down the stages many times to receive his musical awards in The Grammy Award 1984. He taught me the word of IDOL, and he was my first IDOL. When I recalled, I was about 10 years old that time, and I used to kiss on his poster that pasted on my bedroom wall.

What I can do now is listening to all his songs, and missing him. His songs shall not categorise as those oldies, as they sound so latest and up to the date. Although all he great songs were created back in 25 years, they haven't been faded in his fans' memory until today. Actually, we shall not just listen to his songs, we have to watch his songs. I can still remember Beat It, Billie Jean, Thriller, Black or White, Bad and Remember The Time MTVs clearly. They are all fantastic music videos that you cannot miss. If you have missed out them, try to locate them again in youtube. Otherwise, it is your loss.

I feel deeply sympathized and sorry on his childhood memory, his bad experience on the child molestation court case, and all the harmful rumours about him. I believe in Michael Jackson. He is the King of POP, he is the true legend, he is rocking the world. So glad that I was one of them that growing up in his greatest music achievement in the 80s.

To me, he is not only a great performer, he is also a loving father to his 3 children. He always loves children and he cares about the world. You can learn this from the below video. I have no other words to say, except this....Thank you, Michael Jackson, RIP.

Like I mentioned in my earlier entry. I registered April in UCMAS Mental Arithmetic (XinXuan ) class last Friday. Before the day, I was still a bit hesitated, as other than her normal kindergarten class on the weekdays, she has to attend the art class on Sunday. I was concerning about too many extra lessons and may cause more pressure on her. I persuaded her by saying that Mental Arithmetic class has no homework and it is not a lecture type. It is more fun and etc..... Then, she went together with May. May was in another class, which is I-Maths. I-Maths provided the children blocks in different shapes, and they may need to form some objects by using the blocks. I-Maths and as well as Mental Arithmetic is good in stimulating the children's brain and developing their mental, and the children are learned to have better focus and faster responsive.

After they returned from the first lesson, and I quickly settled them and brought them up to bed. April and May were like a chatter box, as they were still very excited of their accomplishment in the evening. Especially April, she was so thrilled over all the new items in the new course work bag.

We talked for a while. I remembered this particularly.April said, "Mommy, I want to go to XinXuan everyday, can I?".I said, "No, you only go on Wednesday and Friday, meimei is going only on Friday.".April said, "I like to go to XinXuan.".I said, "I know.".April said, "I like the new bag, the new pencil case, the abacus and also the books.".April again, " I like the teacher. Teacher gave me a lot of stars in my exercise books already.".........April again said, "Mommy, today I am very happy.".I said, "Mommy is happy too.".I again, "Mommy is happy as you like XinXuan so much. Now, you have to close your eyes and sleep. Since you are so happy, you will have a sweet dream tonight.".